White House senior adviser Jared Kushner said in an interview broadcast Sunday that the Palestinians deserve "self-determination," but stopped short of backing Palestinian statehood and expressed uncertainty over their ability to govern themselves.
Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law and an architect of the White House's yet-to-be-released Middle East peace plan, told the "Axios on HBO" television program it would be a "high bar" when asked if the Palestinians could expect freedom from Israeli military and government interference.
The Palestinian leadership has boycotted a diplomatic effort that Trump has touted as the "deal of the century." Although Kushner has been drafting the plan for two years under a veil of secrecy, it is seen by Palestinian and some Arab officials as tilting heavily in Israel's favor and denying them a state of their own.